I'm not a fortune teller.

Chapter 151 Qin Wushuang!
"Master Zhang, why are you here at the White Tiger Gate today?"

At the seat where the princess was sitting, Princess Yunyang, who had temporarily requested a seat for Zhang Rui, was a little curious.

Logically speaking, the two people related to Zhang Rui, a little girl named Murong Yunji is in the competition area of Suzaku Gate, and the other one named Yun Yi is in Xuanwu Gate. Most of the people who have registered on the White Tiger Gate side are children of military honors. It seems that Lord Zhang doesn't have much intersection with the people here, right?
"It's just a routine visit. After all, I have a public office." Zhang Rui smiled.

"Oh?" Princess Yunyang narrowed her eyes slightly: "But what new case is there at the Dali Temple?"

"There are no new cases." Zhang Rui shook his head. On the contrary, the capital city was unusually quiet these days. Even the old officials in the Dali Temple found it strange. In the past few years, the Spring Examination and the National Competition were the days when demons and monsters from all sides liked to make trouble the most. Not to mention anything else, the secluded families in southern Xinjiang would secretly create a few evil cases to create chaos, not to mention some folk cult organizations.

But this time, for some reason, ever since Li Qingtian announced the start of the competition, and maybe because it was too sudden and those organizations didn't have time to cause trouble, the capital city has been so peaceful these past few days that it's a little abnormal, even those trouble-making people in the martial arts world have become much more well-behaved.

"Mr. Zhang, what's this tone? An old case?"

"Not really. Maybe I'm overthinking it." Zhang Rui looked at the field, his doubts still lingering in his mind.

There are many hidden troubles in the capital now. The Lord of Painting Spirit has not made any move since the defeat, but he encouraged Hong Lie to find him before the competition. It seems that he is going to make some move.

The Qi family's cooperation with the evil spirit in trying to control the emperor and change the world seems to be the biggest trouble, but in fact, what Zhang Rui is more worried about is the thing lurking in the dark.

Both the painting spirit and the evil spirit that could replace people had already taken action, but the guy in the temple seemed to be motionless. Zhang Rui was most puzzled by this.

During the days since he came to Beijing, he had a pretty good understanding of the spheres of influence, but he still couldn't tell which power the temple had that could connect to the underworld.

Zombies are the most common evil spirits in his own setting, and the fact that the entire Jin Dynasty has no impression of this type of evil spirits shows its power. It is probably that it has been planned for no less than a thousand years. Now that the capital is in a turbulent situation, Zhang Rui doesn't believe that group of forces will not be tempted at all.

I had offended the other party once before in the temple, so I was quite vigilant.

"Your Highness, I am very curious, are there no prominent figures among those who have received military honors?" Zhang Rui finally couldn't help but ask.

After coming to the imperial city, he has experienced several major events, but the presence of military honors is really weak. Even the last time, when the lords who commanded the five military commanders were dispatched, Zhang Rui felt that it was still the civil officials who controlled the situation.

If Li Qingtian had not made a stunning appearance later and saved face for the Military Attaché Group, Zhang Ruide would have completely ignored this force.

"Military Merit!" Princess Yunyang smiled bitterly. "Among us royal family members, whether they are princesses, princesses, or even county ladies, most of them married into the Military Merit Group in the early dynasty. The royal family also intends to form such marriages. But why are the women who can arrange their own weddings unwilling to marry there in recent years?"

"The next generation is not good enough?" Zhang Rui guessed in his mind.

"Before the Great Jin Dynasty, except for the Qin and Han dynasties, all dynasties lasted no more than three hundred years." The princess sighed, "Even so, most of the military meritorious groups fell into terrible decline within two or three hundred years, while the Great Jin Dynasty prospered for a thousand years, and the military meritorious children have been enjoying the tributes of the titles for generations. It's good enough that they didn't completely rot away."

Zhang Rui nodded when he heard this. It was indeed not easy to strive for such a life with a guaranteed minimum wage.

"In the previous emperor's generation, there were still two people who could make decisions for the military heroes." Princess Yunyang sighed, "One was the Duke of Yingguo, Long Lao. However, the Long family's skills caused the essence to be too stable, which made it difficult to get pregnant. In this generation, there is only one person left who can be seen. The old Duke of Yingguo died of illness ten years ago. It was also in these ten years that the military heroes have become increasingly weak."

"What about the other one?" Zhang Rui asked curiously.

"Duke Yanzong of Yan is young and strong, but he has been serving in the north most of the time. He and Lord Yuchi Peng were once known as the two pillars of the empire in the north. Now that Lord Yuchi has unfortunately passed away, Duke Yan is even more tied down there."

“I see.” Zhang Rui finally understood. Those who had some ability were either squeezed out to the southern border or fought against the enemy in the north.

"The Yuchi family is the military family that Your Majesty values the most. If Yuchi Peng is fine, then logically, after the crown prince ascends the throne, they will be royal relatives. Yuchi Peng will most likely come to the capital to serve as the governor of the five armies. By then, Duke Yan will serve as the Grand Marshal of the Army in the north, but he will be checked and balanced by the children of the Yuchi family. Together with my husband Hong Lie, if two of the three can become masters, the situation in the capital will be greatly improved, and Your Majesty will be able to free up his hands to do more things. It's a pity..."

"In other words, apart from what the princess just said, the rest are not good enough?" Zhang Rui confirmed again.

"It's not that I look down on them." Yun Yang sneered, "In the past, whoever could be a duke was not a half-step master? But now, among all the dukes, there are only a few who can beat me."

Zhang Rui: “.”

This is indeed a bit scary.

No wonder the Jianghu sects are becoming more and more powerful now.
"If you want to talk about powerful people, there is actually another one."

"Ok?"

"The Qin family of the East China Sea."

"The Third Prince's maiden family?" Zhang Rui was curious: "Isn't that a wealthy merchant?" "Yes, they are wealthy merchants, but they have a title." Yun Yang smiled and said: "The Qin family's ancestor was a close friend of Taizu. Later, Taizu also granted the Qin family the fertile land of Donghai. He originally wanted to make them a king of a different surname, but they refused. In the end, they didn't even have the title of Duke, but only an earl."

"count?"

"Yes, Earl." The princess nodded. "Although the title is low, the status is not low. There are two places in the Great Jin where the aristocratic families cannot expand their business. One is the southern border. The territory of Li Qingtian, the Duke of Jin, directly cuts off the secret connection between the southern border aristocratic families and all the aristocratic families. The second is the East China Sea. For thousands of years, no matter what means the ten major aristocratic families used, they could not beat the Qin family there. The business in the East China Sea has always been decided by the Qin family."

"This is quite impressive." Zhang Rui took a breath. Monopolizing the maritime trade, what a terrible profit! One family swallowed it all, this power...
In your novel, is Li Yu’s family so powerful?
He thought back to his own settings. Li Yu's family was indeed wealthy, but he didn't expect it to be perfected to this extent in this world.

"Even the noble families can't help?" Zhang Rui was curious: "Does the Qin family have a sorcerer?"

"There are rumors, but there is no evidence." The monarch shook his head. "Martial Merits cannot marry into the families of sorcerers, nor can they practice sorcerer techniques. This is the rule. However, no matter which family it is, they have used many evil methods in the East China Sea and have not been able to shake the position of the Qin family. It can be seen that the Qin family is indeed backed by a strong sorcerer, but who it is, there is still no clue."

"East China Sea." Zhang Rui frowned: "Is it possible?"

"Are you talking about the Lord of Painting Spirit?" The princess also frowned.

Zhang Rui nodded.

"It's unlikely." The princess shook her head and said, "My mother once told me some stories about Hualing. The Qin family was an important contributor to the massacre of Hualing. Three of the four great Hualing dukes were the result of the Qin family. The Qin family made the greatest contribution to the extermination of the Hualing clan."

"Is that so? The Qin family has been able to survive for so long. How about Wu Chuan?"

"Very impressive!" The princess whispered, "In history, there have only been two Grandmasters. The family has declined a bit in the past three hundred years, and there are no descendants who can inherit the Grandmaster title. However, the descendants of the Qin family have always been able to monopolize the Wu Mu in the East China Sea."

"Oh? Is there anyone participating this time?"

"Yes." The princess looked not far away. Zhang Rui followed her gaze and immediately saw a tall woman in black.

The woman had her ponytail standing up and was dressed in a tight outfit. She had no makeup on her facial features, but her beauty was obvious. Her temperament was even more heroic. Zhang Rui only had to look over, and she seemed to notice him. She turned around, and after seeing the princess, she saluted slightly from a distance.

The princess also quickly returned the gift.

"Qin Wushuang is the second daughter of the current head of the Qin family. Her eldest son, Qin Wuyan, is a martial herdsman in Lingzhou, Donghai. He won the first place that year, and no one has dared to challenge him until now. Although this second daughter, Wushuang, is a girl, I heard that her talent is even greater than her eldest brother."

"Really?" Zhang Rui was curious and wanted to take another look at the other person, but found that the other person had already walked over.

"Long time no see, Princess." Qin Wushuang approached and saluted again with a smile.

"The last time we met was when my daughter was 15 years old." The princess also sighed: "Back then, she always loved to pester you to tell you about interesting things at sea."

"Princess, please accept my condolences," Qin Wushuang sighed. She had a deep impression of the lively little girl back then.

But Zhang Rui frowned slightly.

After Qin Wushuang approached, his body had an abnormal reaction.

"This must be Lord Zhang, right?" Qin Wushuang turned around and said with a smile.

"Hello, Miss Qin." Zhang Rui bowed with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Zhang." Qin Wushuang said with a smile, "I heard about Mr. Zhang's deeds before I came here, but I didn't expect him to be so young."

"Miss, you are too kind. I am ashamed." Zhang Rui looked at the other party, but he became alert in his heart.

Only when I got closer did I see that this girl, like Qing Yunzi, was a warrior, but there was an evil spirit entangled around her!
Half-step Grandmaster?

And he is a half-step grandmaster who is close to the top. He looks to be only in his twenties, right?

Even if the warrior looks young, he is at most in his early thirties, which is a bit exaggerated.

This is not the key point. The key point is that as soon as the other party gets close, part of the spiritual power in his body becomes uncontrollable.

This woman is not right.
(End of this chapter)